Tiger Heads and Rabbit Fur

The origin of traditional Chinese shoes

Traditional Chinese children's shoes are believed to have their roots in the Warring States Period, approximately 2,600 years ago. It was then that the head of the Jin Kingdom, an area roughly outlined by present-day Shanxi province, ordered all the maids in his palace to embroider ten kinds of fruits and flowers on their shoes in remembrance of the great deeds he had performed. This practice eventually made its way to the people and it became a tradition for mothers to make similar shoes for their children.

Among the most common shoes made for toddlers were "tiger head shoes," usually sewn from cotton with tiger heads embroidered on the toes. To make them appear more vivid and lifelike, rabbit fur would sometimes be attached to the mouth and ears, so it would flutter in the wind like the fur of a tiger.

Chinese folklore regards tigers as "the king of the animal world" (bǎishòu zhīwáng 百兽之王), powerful enough to scare away evil spirits. Hence, when a child entered the world, they would be given three pairs of different-colored tiger head shoes. The first pair would be blue, because "blue" (lán 蓝) in Chinese is pronounced identically to the word for "barrier" (拦) and refers to the idiom of "the path-barring tiger" (lánlùhǔ 拦路虎), symbolizing the tiger's ability to ward off demons and vicious animals. A second pair of shoes would be red (hóng 红), a color representing happiness, and the final pair would be purple (zǐ 紫) which, pronounced the same as the character for "oneself" (zì 自), symbolized the hope that the child would grow up in his own family and not be taken from his parents. With these three pairs of tiger shoes, children were guaranteed to grow up safely and happily.

In addition to tiger heads, other designs for baby shoes also exist, each expressive of a different wish or hope. Some of the most common patterns are pigs, butterflies, frogs, fish and lotus flowers. In Chinese, pig (zhū 猪) sounds similar to "dwelling" (zhù 住), signifying a child's successful birth and the hope of a carefree upbringing. Butterflies symbolize love and harmony, while frogs (wā 蛙) - pronounced identically to "baby" (wá 娃) - are themselves symbols for children. Fish (yú 鱼) represent abundance (yú 余), while the lotus flower symbolizes integrity and nobility.

Much of the practice of making and wearing traditional baby shoes has been lost, now overtaken in popularity by sneakers and sandals manufactured by factories. Though the custom is still maintained in some regions of China, such as Henan and Yunnan, fewer and fewer people can remember the days when kids ran around in handmade tiger-head or pig shoes.

Those who wish to wax nostalgic about this vanishing Chinese way of life can visit some of the traditional footwear workshops that still exist in Beijing:

Buyingzhai Shoe House 步瀛斋
8 Dashilan'r, Qianmen
前门大栅栏8号
www.buyingzhai.cn/doce/zxdx.htm

Nabaiqian Cotton Shoe Workshop 纳百谦布鞋
71 Gaobeidian Chinese Furniture Street, Chaoyang District
朝阳区高碑店古典家具一条街71号

Chinese children's shoes can also be purchased at Yashow (雅秀) and Silk Street (秀水) markets.